Blade arrangement for earthmoving equipment



July 14, 1970 H. NICHOLS 3,520,076

BLADE ARRANGEMENT FOR EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT Filed July 5. 1967 INVENTORIRVIN Ll. NICHOLS FIC.5 BY wfl m ATTORNEYS 3,520,076 BLADE ARRANGEMENTFOR EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT Irvin H. Nichols, Auburn, Calif. (4040 BadilloCircle, Apt. 87, Baldwin Park, Calif. 91706) Filed July 5, 1967, Ser.No. 651,245 Int. Cl. E02f 9/28 US. Cl. 37141 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An earth-engaging blade arrangement including a member havinga portion to engage the earth and a plurality of portions projectingfrom one edge thereof for receipt in recesses in a supporting member andheld by drive pins, said projecting portions tapering in thicknessoutwardly from said edge, the earth-engaging surface of the bladeprojecting laterally outwardly of the surface of the supporting member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to blade devices for earthmoving equipment.

The prior art For earthmoving equipment, the earth-engaging elements,such as blades, teeth, router bits or the like, are made as removableelements in order that they may be replaced after they have been worn.For many jobs, frequent blade replacement is required, resulting indowntime of the equipment and expensive labor costs in the removal andinstallation operations. Securing the earthengaging elements by bolts isunsatisfactory in that installing and removing these elements thenbecomes particularly time-consuming and costly. Not only is it laboriousto attach the bolts, but generally they cannot be loosened but must becut off after a period of service.

Considerable saving may be realized if the blade device is especiallymade for quick attachment and removal through the utilization of specialsupport adapters and unthreaded drive pin fasteners. An example of thisis illustrated in my prior Pat. No. 3,160,967 in which the blade isprovided with wedge-shaped recesses which receive complemenaryprojecting portions of an adapter to be held in place by transverselyextending drive pins. It is a much simpler operation to fit the bladeonto the projecting adapter and secure it with the drive pins thanprevious designs. Removal is correspondingly made an easier and fasteroperation. However, with this construction, a problem can be encounteredas the blade wears during the use of the equipment. Blades may wearquite rapidly, but for economy should be used to the maximum extent oftheir lives. As the blade of this patent is used, it is possible to wearthrough the wall of the blade at the recess that receives the projectingsupport element. When that occurs, the support then presents a portionof the surface engaged by the earth, and is itself subjected to wear asthe equipment is used. The result is the necessity for a slow andexpensive replacement of the supporting device.

An additional problem is encountered with scrapers, which conventionallyinclude a transverse blade in the unit, adjacent either end of which ispositioned a router bit. The latter elements are vertically positionedand provide a smooth cut of the earth at the ends of the area engaged bythe blade. This materially reduces the wear at the side portions of thescraper. These router bits not only have been difiicult to remove andreplace,

United States Patent 3,520,076 Patented July 14, 1970 'ice but also havebeen prone to damage during use of the scraper. They are carried by thesidewalls of the scraper and spaced slightly outwardly of the ends ofthe blade. Hence, they are without lateral support and can be deflectedinwardly when an unyielding object is encountered during use of thescraper. Frequently, these inward side loads cause breakage of therouter bits. Even more serious, they may bend the sidewall of thescraper inwardlyso that the front opening is distorted and the gate nolonger may be closed for retaining the earth within the scraper body.When this occurs, the scraper is immobilized until jacks can be appliedto the scraper walls to bend them back to their original contours.Obviously, again, there is a loss of operating time and a significantexpense involved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an arrangementfor removable earth-engaging elements avoiding the difi'icultiesoutlined above. Blades of various types constructed in accordance withthis invention are readily installed and removed, yet the danger ofwearing the supporting device is avoided. In this arrangement, the bladeelement is provided with a wedge-shaped projecting portion which extendsinto a recess in the supporting member carried by the earthmovingequipment. Thus, no recessed portion is included in the blade, and thesupport is remote from the part of the blade that contacts the earth.Consequently, it is possible to wear the blade completely without dangerof damage to the supporting member. There is no wall of the blade to beworn through to give access to the support. More of the earth-engagingmember may be allowed to wear away before a replacement is necessary.

Preferably, the surface of the supporting member is displaced laterallyinwardly of the surface of the member that engages the earth. This meansthat, as the earth passes back to the area of the supporting member, thepressure is relieved and looser material contacts the support. Thisfurther minimizes the possibility of wear of the support member.

For vertically suspended blade elements, such as router bits forscrapers, a rib is included along the bit surface. The rib is positionedclosely adjacent the edge of the scraper blade, so that the rib andblade effectively back up the router bit and provide it with lateral support. Inward loads on the router bit, therefore, do not damage eitherthe bit or the sidewall of the scraper. The rib is inclined, so thatengagement with the blade edge will be assured, regardless of the makeof scraper and variations in blade positioning. Ribs may be provided onboth sides of the router bit, so that they are usable at either end ofthe scraper blade, and it is unnecessary to provide right-and left-handparts.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement forremovable earthengaging elements of earthmoving equipment.

Another object of this invention is to provide an earthengaging devicewith a greater cacapity for wear.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an earth-engagingblade device that is easily and rapidly installed and removed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a blade, bit or thelike where the possibility of wear of the supporting device is minimal.

An additional object of this invention is to provide full lateralsupport for a router bit or the like to protect the bit and equipmentwith which it is associated from damage.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a router bit orthe like which is usable on either side of a scraper or other item ofearthmoving equipment.

These and other objects will become apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspecticeview of a scraper incorporating the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarger fragmentary elevational view of the lower forwardcorner portion of the scraper;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the router bit, adaptersupport and drive pins; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 1 showing theattachment of the blade.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawing, thearrangement of this invention is used in conjunction with a scraper ofotherwise conventional construction. The scraper includes spacedsidewalls 11 and 12 extending vertically from the opposite edges of abottom wall 13, thereby defining the bowl for receiving earth as thescraper is in operation. Extending transversely of the machine at theforward edge of the bottom wall 13 is a blade assembly 15. A router bitassembly 16 is located at the forward corner of each of the sidewalls 11and 12.

Each router bit assembly 16 includes an adapter support 18 and agenerally flat router bit or blade 19. The adapter 18, which is securedto the lower forward corner of the sidewall by suitable means, such aswelding, includes recesses that receive projecting portions of therouter bit 19. In the embodiment illustrated, there are two elongaterrecesses 20* and 21 into which fit projections 22 and 23 of the routerbit. The recesses 20 and 21 are substantially wedge-shaped taperinginwardly from their larger open ends 24 and 25 to their inner edges 26and 27. There is also some inward convergence of the side edges of therecesses 20 and 21. A strengthening web 28 is interposed between therecesses 20 and 21. When assembled, the projections 22 and 23 aresubstantially complementarily received in the recesses 20 and 21.

Openings 29 and 30 are provided transversely in the adapter, extendingacross the recesses 20 and 21. Similar openings 31 and 32 are includedin the projections 22 and 23 of the router bit 19. When the projections22'and 23 are inserted into the recesses 20 and 21, drive pins 33 areextended through the openings in the adapter and the router bit to holdthe router bit to the adapter. The drive pins 33 are compressibletransversely, each including rigid elongated portions 35 and 36 of steelinterconnected by a core 37 of rubber. When the drive pins are extendedthrough the openings, the resilient layers 37 are compressed, and thedrive pins fit snugly within the openings, firmly holding the parts inthe assembled relationship.

'Extending the length of the router bit 19 along both sides at the topportion adjacent the projections 22 and 23 are lands 38 and 39. Theseare connected through convergent walls 40 and 41 to the principalsurfaces 42 and 43 of the router bit. When installed, the forward edge44 of the router bit inclines downwardly and toward the rear, or to theright as the device is shown, while the rearward edge 45 issubstantially vertical. The bottom edge 46 extends substantiallyhorizontally between the lower extremities of the forward and rearwardedges 44 and 45.

Along the intermediate portions of the principal surfaces 42 and 43 ofthe router bit 19' are ribs 47 and 48. These ribs extend from the lands38 and 39 to chamfered edges 49 and 50 that interconnect the bottom edge46 of the router bit. The ribs 47 and 48 are inclined downwardly and tothe rear, or to the right as the device is shown. The ribs include outersurfaces 51 and 52, which 4 are parallel and spaced apart the samedistance as that between the lands 38 and 39. The side edges of the ribs47 and 48 are divergent laterally from the outer edges 51 and 52 to thelines of joinder with the principal surfaces 42 and 43.

The blade assembly 15 is made up of a plurality of individual bladeelements 54, which incline forwardly and downwardly from the bottom wall13 of the scraper bowl. When the router bits 19 are attached to theirsupport adapters 18, they are located alongside the end edges of theoutermost blades 54 of the blade assembly 15. The inside rib of eachrouter bit becomes positioned almost in contact with the adjacent bladeedge. Thus, as seen in FIG. 3, the surface 52 of the rib 48 nearlytouches the outer end edge 55 of the adjacent scraper blade element 54.Because the rib 48 inclines downwardly and to the rear, while the bladeunit 54 inclines downwardly and forwardly, the rib and blade cross, sothat it is assured that some portion of the rib will overlap the endedge 55 of the blade.

This provides lateral support for the router bit during use of theeartlrmoving equipment. Laterally inwardly directed forces on the routerbit will be transmitted through the rib 48 and its surface 52 to the end55 of the adjacent blade 54. Therefore, the blade is able totake out theside loads on the router bit. This is true even though the principalsurface 43 of the router bit in the conventional manner is spaced fromthe end of the blade. With the lateral support afforded by the rib 48,the router bit will not become damaged or broken from forces pressing itinwardly. Neither will the sidewall 12 of the scraper suffer ill effectsfrom such forces. Therefore, the life of the router bit is increasedover conventional designs, and damage to the scraper is avoided.

In the same manner, the router bit 19 on the opposite side of thescraper also is supported against laterally inward forces and will notbecome broken nor permit the sidewall of the scraper to become bent. Theother router bit 19, however, is supported on its rib 47, which on thatside of the scraper is located adjacent the end of the blade assembly.The rib 47 crosses over the blade, so that engagement is assured.

Thus, by having a rib on either side, the router bit becomes usable oneither side of the scraper. It is not necessary to provide specialrightand left-hand router bits because of this. Optionally, however,single reinforcing ribs may be provided while sacrificing the advantageof interchangeability at the two sides of the machine.

The rearward inclination given to the ribs 47 and 48 assures that theywill be in juxtaposition with the blades of different makes of scrapers.There is some variation in the positioning of the blades on differentscraper constructions, but, by having a rearward inclination, in allinstances the rib will be adjacent the blade and will transmit inwardforces from the router bit to the blade.

The lands 38 and 39 on the router bit 19 are spaced apart a greaterdistance than that between the opposite surfaces 57 and 58 of thesupport 18. This means that, when the router bit is installed, the landon the inner side projects inwardly beyond the surface of the support.As seen in FIG. 3, the land 39 projects inwardly beyond the surface 58of the adjacent support 18, while on the opposite side of the scraperthe land 38 extends inwardly beyond the surface of the support. This isto relieve the pressure against the inner surface of the support 18 asthe scraper is in use. The land 39 deflects the earth away from thesurface 58 and relieves the pressure above the router bit, so that anyearth that moves alongside the support will be looser. This minimizesthe wear on the support 18. The surface 58 of the support is hardened tofurther reduce the likelihood of wearing of the support element.

Virtually, the entire lower blade portion of the router bit 19 may beworn away before it is necessary to replace this element. No damage tothe support 18 will occur, as the support is not associated with any ofthe exposed portion of the router bit. Therefore, no matter how severelythe outer portions of the router bit are worn, there will be no effectupon the support.

When it is time for removal of a worn router bit 19, the pins 33 simplyare driven out of their openings in the support and the router bitprojections, allowing the router bit to be pulled free. Thus, removal isaccomplished very easily and rapidly. New router bits are installed byextending the projections into the wedge-shaped openings and replacingthe drive pins 33. The entire operation takes only a short time and onlya brief interruption in the service of the scraper.

The individual blade elements 54 of the scraper are secured to themachine in an arrangement similar to that for the router bits. There isa support member 60 for each of the blade units, provided withwedge-shaped recesses 61 for receiving generally complementaryprojections 62 of the blade. Openings 63 in the support and 64 in theblade projection 62 receive drive pins 65 that secure the elements inthe assembled position. The pins 65 may be similar to the pins 33described above. With this construction, therefore, the blade elements54 may be worn completely without risk of damaging the support 60. Thesupport 60 is entirely beyond the outer section of the blade so that, nomatter how much of the blade is worn away, there will be no effect uponthe support.

The parts are proportioned so that the upper surface 66 of the blade 54projects laterally above the upper surface 67 of the support. Thisrelieves the pressure by the earth against the supporting element tominimize any tendency to wear the support. Thus, the compaction of theearth is relieved as it passes from the surface 66 to the lower surface67 so that the earth is looser and provides less wearing force as itmoves inwardly into the scraper body. The surface 67 preferably ishardened to further reduce the wear of this element.

Blade removal and installation is a simple operation involving merelythe driving out of the pins 65 and removal of the blade extensions fromthe recesses 61, followed by the introduction of a new blade andreplacement of the drive pin. Again, therefore, little time is lost inthe removal and replacement of the earth-engaging element.

This type of supporting arrangement may be used for other blades or thelike and is not restricted to scrapers. The supporting member shouldhave at least two recesses for the receipt of projecting portions fromthe blade element, with larger blades usually employing three. Thisincreases the strength of the unit by resulting in transverse webportions between the adjacent recesses. These prevent the recessedsupport from being opened up and distorted outwardly as would occur fromthe use of a single large elongated recess.

The foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as givenby way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of thisinvention being limited solely by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An earth-cutting device comprising:

a generally flat elongated member having opposite longitudinallyextending outer edges and opposite principal surfaces,

said member having a support portion adjacent the first of said outeredges, and a blade portion adjacent the second of said outer edges,

said support portion having an inner part of relatively large thicknessand being of relatively smaller thickness at said first outer edge,

whereby said support portion tapers from said inner part toward saidfirst outer edge and is of a generally wedge-shape, said member having afirst pair of elongated enlargements providing ribs extendinglongitudinally of said member adjacent said inner part of said supportportion and intermediate said blade portion and said support portion,

one of said ribs extending outwardly from either principal surface ofsaid member,

said ribs being in opposite alignment with each other,

said ribs having a greater combined thickness than said thickness ofsaid inner part of said support portion,

said member having a second pair of elongated enlargements,

one of said second pair of elongated enlargements projecting outwardlyfrom either principal surface of said member,

said second pair of elongated enlargements being in opposite alignmentwith each other,

said second elongated enlargements connecting to said first elongatedenlargements at an acute angle and extending across said blade portionto said second outer edge of said member.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 in which:

said second elongated enlargements connect to said first elongatedenlargements intermediate the ends of said first elongated enlargements,

and said second elongated enlargements extend to said second outer edgeintermediate the ends of said second outer edge.

3. A device as recited in claim 2 in which said blade portion hasopposite ends, said blade portion being substantially of no greaterthickness at said opposite ends than it is inwardly of said oppositeends.

4. A device as recited in claim 3 in which each of said first elongatedenlargements includes a side surface inclined toward said second outeredge, said side surfaces of said first pair of elongated enlargementsbeing thereby convergent toward said second outer edge.

5. In combination with an item of earthmoving equipment having spacedupstanding sidewalls, a bottom wall extending transversely between saidsidewalls, and a blade at one edge of said bottom wall arrangedtransversely relative to said sidewalls, said blade :being inclineddownwardly and presenting an end surface adjacent each of saidsidewalls, said end surfaces extending below said sidewalls and beinginclined downwardly, a router bit arrangement for said item ofearthmoving equipment comprising:

a pair of generally fiat members,

each of said members having opposite longitudinal edges and oppositeprincipal surfaces, each of said members having:

a support portion adjacent the first of said longitudinal edges, and acutting portion adjacent the second of said longitudinal edges,

and means attaching said support portion to said sidewalls,

each of said members including:

a first pair of elongated enlargements defining a rib along eitherprincipal surface of said member,

said ribs being in opposite alignment with each other and extending inadjacency and below the lower edge of the adjacent one of saidsidewalls,

and a second pair of elongated enlargements,

said second pair of elongated enlargements being in opposite alignmentwith each other,

one projecting outwardly from either principal surface of said member,

said second enlargements extending from said first enlargements to thesecond of said outer edges, and being inclined in the opposite directionfrom the inclination of said end surfaces so that said secondenlargements cross said end surfaces, one of said second enlargements ofeach of said members facing and being in juxtaposition with one of saidend surfaces for providing support for said member against laterallyinwardly directed forces.

6. A device as recited in claim 5 in which said second enlargementsconnect to said first enlargements intermediate the ends of said firstenlargements, and extend to said second outer edge intermediate the endsof said second outer edge.

7. A device as recited in claim 6 in which said support portion tapersin thickness from a relatively thick portion adjacent said firstelongated members to a relatively thin portion at said first outer edge,whereby said support portion is generally wedge-shaped, said sidewallsincluding means defining a recess generally complementarily receivingsaid support portion, said support portion and said means defining arecess including apertures therethrough, and including pin meansextending through said apertures for providing said means for attachingsaid support portion to said sidewall.

8. A device as recited in claim 7' in which said relatively thickportion of said support portion is thinner than the combined thicknessesof said first elongated enlargements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,776,676 9/1930 Bauer 37-1421,777,222 9/1930 Pierce 37142 1,918,841 7/1933 Finkl 37142 2,702,4902/1955 Launder 37142 XR 2,831,275 4/195-8 Kimsey et a1. 37-141 2,919,5061/1960 Larsen 37142 3,032,901 5/1962 Dils 37-141 3,160,967 12/19 6 4Nichols 37-141 3,277,592 10/1966 Launder et a1. 37142 EDGAR S. BURR,Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 172777

